


To Succeed Is Not To Win

by somethingalltogether



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark One Captain Hook | Killian Jones, F/M, Sexual Coercion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-07-18 19:38:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7327597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingalltogether/pseuds/somethingalltogether
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 2 AU: Hook succeeds in his vengeance against Gold and Emma is caught in the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> My first post on AO3. Previously posted to my FF.net account by the same name.

"So no one has seen hide nor hair of Hook and his ship is still here?" Emma asked with concern marring her face. "What about Gold?"

David scowled. "Haven't seen him either. Belle swung by the loft the other day and mentioned that Gold was planning a trip outside of Storybrooke soon to find his son and he wouldn't be back for several days. Problem is that he never said when he'd be leaving. He just disappeared. Apparently the dagger that was in her care is missing too."

 

"Shit," Emma spat. "I have a bad feeling about this."

 

"You and me both. I'm going to Gold's house and pawnshop. You take the docks and see if we can find anything about our missing villains," David said shrugging on his leather jacket.

 

Giving him a nod, Emma snagged her black gloves from the top drawer of her desk and followed her father out of the sheriff's office. Emma split from his side as she continued to walk further into downtown Main Street. People smiled and cheerfully offered salutations as she passed. With a tight uncomfortable smile, Emma breezed away from the overly festive townsfolk as they prepared for the Christmas Festival and headed straight for the pirate ship she knew to be moored at the last dock. Every day that she had passed through the harbor on her patrol, Emma paid special attention to any changes around Hook's ship. The last time she had seen any moment was four days ago, but the man in question was the fat man with the red beanie and not the leather clad pirate that had been haunting her thoughts.

 

Trotting up the gangplank, Emma called out a warning of her arrival only be greeted the call of seagulls perched on the topgallant yard. A sense of wrongness lingered about the air; the ship's magic called to her for its missing captain. Emma shivered as she walked briskly from stem to stern looking for any sign of recent activity.

 

Opening the hatch to the captain's quarters, Emma carefully descended down the ladder into Hook's cabin. The air was stale giving Emma reason to believe that Hook had not stepped foot on the ship for over a week. Worry pierced her gut at the thought of why Hook hadn't been back to his ship; he wasn't the type to leave his ship unattended for long especially in such a small town. Browsing the shelves stacked neatly with leather bound books and the odd souvenir, she took in the belongings of the ship's captain with interest. With a cleanliness she didn't expect a pirate, the private man who used flirtation as a shield against unwanted personal conversation had been proven to be more complex than her earlier estimation.

 

Numerous sheets of parchment bearing strange markings Emma could only assume were maps of Storybrooke were stacked meticulously on a desk. The hand drawn streets of Storybrooke were out of sequence and littered with graceful masculine calligraphy labeling the landscape with not the names of the streets but random words only Hook would be able to decipher: a true pirate map created by an apparent methodical Renaissance man. Emma's views of Hook in the Enchanted Forest from a deranged killer expanded to include an intelligent map maker with a steady hand and eye for detail.

 

Shifting through the papers, Emma found numerous buildings layouts and rooftop perches sketched in vivid detail. Even locals faces were drawn with notes detailing their habits and relations with other members of town generally centered on Gold and his dealings. Her own face appeared on numerous pages marked with her coming and goings as well as personal preferences of clothing and food. Indignation flared through her at Hook's invasion of her privacy.

 

His imagination had run wild on the last leaf of the pile with a full page rendering of the inside of his cabin with her laid out peacefully sleeping apparently nude under a strategically placed bed sheet that barely covered her most private parts. No matter the beauty of the way the cloth was draped over her body's dips and curves, it was still obscene that a complete stranger had taken so much time to dedicate his energy in imaging her in such a vulnerable position. Emma folded the paper and pocketed the intimate drawing.

 

With one last glance, Emma turned and climbed the ladder. She exited the ship as quickly as she came pushing away the thoughts of the pirate bent over his desk sketching away while he imagined her nude and at peace in his bed. It was time to see what David had found because her search yielded nothing that would lead them to either Hook or Gold.

...

The dark of the night smothered Hook matching his mood as he trudged through and over foliage deep within the Enchanted Forest. The robe that had formed around him after he emerged from whatever the hell spit him out into the Enchanted Forest was torn in several places from the thorns and branches that seemed to reach out from the overgrown path that the demon in his head was leading him down. He may have killed Rumpelstiltskin, but the Dark One permeated his mind with taunting visions of the Crocodile. With his revenge finally realized with a flick of his wrist plunging the Dark One's dagger into his crocodile's chest, Hook felt none of the peace he had expected after Rumpelstiltskin's demise. In his final moments, the old man smirked and gave a wet gurgling laugh as he choked on his own blood; the knowing look in his eyes spelled doom as Hook's triumph was snatched away from his grasp when the dark powers erupted from Rumpelstiltskin and crawled into its new skin.

 

Never once in all the years he had lived had Hook ever considered just how a Dark One was made. In hindsight, it should have been fairly obvious that the only thing to destroy a Dark One would be the only thing to create one. Hook knew he had to retrieve the dagger from where it had fallen from his hand as he went into shock in the Land without Magic, but crossing worlds was proving to be more difficult than even the last time when he had made his way with Cora into Storybrooke. He had already visited the previous Dark One's castle which had been already looted much to his disappointment. Only a few magical items were left in the crumbling walls.

'Such a waste too,' Hook thought as he cleared another fallen tree. 'It would have been a fine place to settle when not at sea.'

 

Hook brushed thoughts of any permanent lodgings from his mind; his thoughts of a proper home had crumbled when Milah was murdered and now that he was the Dark One, all hope had faded to find peace and build a family. Other than the Swan girl, there was no one that tempted the captain for anything other than a quick roll in the hay and only she would be a companion of sorts if he had taken her on the seas with him until he was tired of her assets in his bed. Hook grunted as his cock came to life as his imaginings took a lusty hue. She would have made one hell of a pirate on his crew and an excellent addition to the cold nights at sea.

As he made his way to the beanstalk that had yielded a magic compass and a dried bean only a few weeks ago, Hook meditated on tactics to lure the blonde temptress to his side whether by coercion or by trickery. The only main theme in any line of thought was that her son was the biggest weakness Emma had and it would also enrage the adoptive bitch of a mother Regina as well. Hook smiled into the dark and picked up his pace. Things weren't so hopeless after all. Now his revenge was complete, he may not find peace but he could still find pleasure.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where there is a Hook, there is a way.

Lady Fortune had smiled upon him. Hook searched the giant's castle twice over and found two withered beans that had escaped utter destruction. With a little bit of water from Lake Nostos, Hook arrived at the edge of Storybrooke's city limits as the light was fading in the west. Street lamps lined the docks illuminating his path as Hook made his way to the Jolly Roger. The harbor was eerily quiet with only the lapping of gentle waves against the hull of his ship to break the silence.

As soon as his booted feet hit wood gangplank, Hook felt the weariness bleed out of his aching muscles. The magic that threatened to burst his seams from lack of use was soothed by the comfort of home. Hook stepped down the ladder into his cabin, took a deep breath, and paused. A light lilac smell clung to the air that swirled around him. The cold stale air caught in his throat; Hook recognized the scent as the floral sweetness had clung to Swan's golden hair when she wrapped her arms around him to prevent him tripping over a wire on top of the beanstalk.

The leather over his groin started to bulge as his manhood rose at the implications of Swan in his personal quarters. Hook hastily eyed the surfaces as if he could see what items Emma had touched as she perused his sanctuary. His gaze fell to the sheet of parchment on his desk; a grin spread over his face as Hook realized just what he had left in the pile of sketches and notes. The single sheet detailing his fantasies may have sent his Swan running for the moment; Hook was nothing but patient in his life pursuits and immortality would only benefit him in his desires.

With a smile still stretching his face, Hook shucked his clothing with a wave of his hand leaving his body bare to the cold that permeated the room. He embraced the dark magic in his veins and with a single thought a copper tub full of hot water blinked into existence without the fanfare of swirling smoke. Sinking into the steaming water, Hook leaned back against the curved beaten copper enjoying the ebb of water that sloshed around his body.

The throbbing between his legs eased as his focus shifted from the salacious thoughts of Emma kneeling at his side to assist in his bath to retrieving the kris dagger that bore his name. Just the mere thought of someone gaining control of the dagger drove Hook to quickly scrub his body of the filth from his travels in the Enchanted Forest. Hook wasted no time drying and dressing in clean leathers. With one last glance at the sheets of parchment, Hook succumbed to the magic and disappeared into a cloud of red smoke.

Hook appeared in a flourish from where he had disappeared from the land without magic. The dagger had laid still embedded in the bloated body of the former Dark One in a secluded grove far from the edge of Storybrooke; Hook incinerated the crocodile's body with a wave of his hand leaving no trace except the stench of rotting flesh in the air. Finished with cleaning up the evidence, Hook let the magic loose again reappearing back into his cabin. The remains of his bath were still steaming in the corner as he set the dagger into a hidden strong box. With his revenge complete, Hook's plans for Emma and her boy were now in the forefront of his dark mind. Hook ignored the gleefully giggling Crocodile that was always in the corner of his vision. He would not lose his happy ending like the previous Dark One.

...

The morning sunlight lit Swan's hair to a fiery golden hue that called to Hook like a beacon of purity from the shadows of the alleyway he lurked. Her boy bounced on his heels as she paused to speak with another lowly townsperson; the third person to pull Emma's attention away from her surroundings in the last ten minutes since she had exited her dwelling. Hook scoffed to himself at her lack of awareness to his presence. Although he knew he was barely visible, the energy and magic he felt crackling between them even from such a distance should have sparked something in the blonde savior, however Emma remained as passive and collected as ever going about her morning routine with the boy itching for them to pick up the pace.

With a nod of her head, Emma disentangled herself from the unwanted conversation and headed towards the corner where two other children waited patiently for the long yellow contraption that would carry them off to whatever schooling house that Storybrooke had to offer. It was just another thing to add to his plans involving Emma's son; his schooling would not be neglected even as they sailed the seas. Books, writing utensils, and maybe even a tutor or two that also could serve as a deckhand would bring some measure of joy to Swan instead of shipping the boy off to an academy in the Enchanted Forest. As much time Hook wanted to spend with and on Swan, he would have to share her with Henry and keeping him close by would give him more control of her actions.

The obnoxiously loud metal carriage rolled to a stop blocking his view of Emma and Henry. When the yellow annoyance finally pulled away from the corner, Emma had already made her way down the road towards the sheriff's office. Alone. Excitement coursed through Hook's veins; his chance to corner her alone had finally come available. Although it was a pleasant thought to do so upon her waking or even bathing in the early morning, too many questions would rise at his sudden appearance in her bed or in her tub. To tip his hand early could give Emma more of an advantage that Hook was unwilling to let go. The fact that he was the Dark One wasn't something that would be kept from her forever; she would eventually figure it out when he showed her how futile it was to resist. His plans to separate her from her family for whatever length of time need to convince her to willingly stay by his side would take all the cunning and power of the Dark One with the charm and stealth of a pirate.

Emma's head bobbed in the distance as Hook watched her turn from the main street towards her place of employment and finally disappearing from his sight. Without thought, Hook gathered the dark magic and appeared in a swirl of smoke on top of the roof adjacent to the sheriff's office in time to see her open the door and disappear into the building. It was time to make his first appearance to his blonde obsession.

...

Emma shrugged off Graham's jacket from her shoulders and hung it on a peg near the door to her office; her mind still in turmoil from lack of direction in her two missing persons case. Henry had even named the case: Operation Double Trouble which turned out to be an apt name. Since her visit to the Jolly Roger a few days prior, her headaches had doubled from the absence of evidence in either disappearance much less any connection of the two. The tearful calls from Belle pleading with her and David did not help with the stress from the case. Nights were spent pouring over possible leads from interviews and days were spent pounding payment and even dirt as they widened their search. Emma knew the longer a person was missing, the more likely it was that they'd return in a body bag if they returned at all.

Grabbing a clean mug and milk from a mini fridge under her desk, Emma poured the white liquid into her novelty World's Best Sheriff mug and microwaved the milk until it was barely tolerable. Steam rose from the cup as she dumped two packets of hot cocoa mix with extra marshmallows into the mug.

"Well, if that isn't a sight for sore eyes."

Emma spun around dropping her mug in surprise. It shattered on impact sending out hot milk and clumps of cocoa mix over the toes of her boots and across the floor. "Hook."

Hook's long legs were crossed and arms folded against his chest as he leaned casually against the door frame. "You are correct, love. Missed me?"

Emma frowned at his tone. There was something not right in his voice almost like there was another person speaking in time with him. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Didn't know I had to keep in touch with you for all my movements, lass. If I had known, I surely wouldn't have wanted to upset you," he replied gently as he pushed away from the door frame to stand erect. "How very wifely of you to be worried so over me."

Emma's mouth twitched and eyes narrowed. "Wifely? There is nothing domestic about this. I had two missing persons cases and it involved mortal enemies. I'm concerned, but not for whatever lecherous reasons you think."

Hook laughed heartily and stepped forward slowly careful not to crowd Emma too soon. "Lecherous? Where did you get that idea? Could it be that you were snooping in a place you ought not be and found something you ought not to have?"

Blushing furiously, Emma turned away without answering and moved to a side closet for a mop and broom. A large hand wrapped around her upper arm and spun her around. Emma could feel the heat radiating off the pirate captain; his hot breath ghosted across her face as he stared down at her with a discernable look of longing. "Hook, let me go."

Hook held onto her arm for a heartbeat before he released her and stepped back. "I'm not playing a game, love. You have something of mine and I want it back."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Emma said with a defiant toss of her head.

A dark look flashed across Hook's face. "I think you do, sweetling. Your words and even some of your actions say you don't, but I can tell by your body's reaction to me that you are thinking the same."

Emma flushed at his marked attention that raked over her body. Warning bells blared in Emma's skull; Hook's gaze may say lust but his stance screamed dangerous in a way that she has never encountered with him even when he locked her in Rumpelstiltskin's cell to slowly die. His shoulders seemed wider as he towered above her dwarfing her in his shadow. "Listen, whatever you think…"

The thunderous sound of concrete cracking halted Emma from finishing her sentence making her jump as she spun around to glance out the window. Hook's hand quickly came up to steady her as Emma rocked back on her heels bumping into his groin. A surge of lust shot through him at the brief contact. His eyes followed her gaze out the window to the sight of the Queen of Hearts standing side by side with her daughter fireballs ablaze in their hands.

"Fucking hell," Emma spat; her thoughts immediately going to Henry.

Hook narrowed his eyes knowing just who they came for and why; his gut telling him that they had no knowledge of his newly acquired power. The demon Queen duo were forcing his hand too soon for his liking. "Sorry, lass. This is a fight you can't win."

Emma whipped around to face him confusion marring her face. Hook deftly closed the few inches between them pressing his lips firmly against hers in a brief kiss. "For luck."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Emma pushed against Hook's chest trying to pull her body away from him. The steel bands of his arms refused to allow her to budge.

"Like I said: sorry, lass," Hook waved his hand; unseen magic knocking Emma unconscious. 

She slumped forward still pinned to his body. Hook gently laid Emma on the floor brushing her golden hair behind her ear before he gathered dark magic sending Emma to rest safely on his ship as he dealt with the Queens. His world shifted and he appeared before them blocking the entrance to the sheriff station.

Regina blanched and looked at her mother before steeling her gaze to glare at Hook.

"Hello, ladies. As you may have noticed, there has been a change in power. We can do this the hard way or we can do this the harder way. Your choice."

Cora huffed. "You don't even know what to do with all that power."

"Oh, my heartless queen. You have no idea," Hook grinned and flexed his hand preparing for the impending fight. "I can't have you two harpies ruin my happy ending."

"Your happy ending? Don't tell me you mean Emma Swan. She'll never have you especially now that you are the Dark One," Regina scoffed.

Hook sneered at the younger woman. "Maybe she won't have a choice. Either way, you'll be long gone before she falls into my grasp. Now, who is first?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Soft sheets, the smell of the sea, and a blinding headache greeted Emma as consciousness returned at a snail's pace. Taking note of the foreign surroundings, panic tugged at the edges of her thoughts as she slowly regained her wits. Eyes barely managing to split open, Emma gazed blearily around the Captain's quarters. Sunlight was streaming through the slanted panes above Emma's head partially blinding her to the darker recesses of the room. Sitting up, Emma folded her body inward with her pounding head in her hands rubbing at her temples to alleviate the pierces of pain caused by the light.

 

"Isn't this a lovely sight?"

 

Emma jerked her head up eyes frantically searching for that well known accented voice. Her gaze settled in the darkest corner of the room where Hook was sprawled out in a chair with his legs haphazardly stretched out in front of him.

 

"How…why… what the fuck, Hook?"

 

Hook smirked and leaned his chin into his hand as he studied her. "Well, I hope fuck is what we are about to commence with, but something tells me you couldn't handle what I could give to you right now."

 

"You assume that I would even want to handle you." Emma swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood unsteadily still gripping the bedding for leverage.

 

"Please, my princess, we've already established that there is a mutual attraction between us. Don't embarrass yourself by denying it." Hook languidly stood and stalked towards her.

 

"I deny nothing," Emma fumed

 

"You denied you took my drawing of you."

 

"I…" Emma trailed off as Hook held up the sketch in question. Emma stood frozen as Hook's arms wrapped around her shoulders keeping her steady as he pulled her body against the large expanse of his chest. Her nose twitched as the hairs on his chest tickled her nose. "You were in my room?"

 

"You were in mine first, Swan. Tell me, did you touch yourself while gazing at this masterpiece?" Hook asked with a leer as he nuzzled the side of her head placing a kiss to the golden strands.

 

"You vulgar disgusting asshole!" Emma recoiled from his touch; her legs hitting the bed as she moved from his arms. Her pride prickled knowing the pirate had allowed her to escape his touch in her weakened state. His muscles were straining to follow, but Hook held himself back as he continued to study her.

 

"I am all those things, but you are the one who wants me."

 

"Listen, I don't know where you get off…"

 

"I'd like to get off on you, my dear," Hook interrupted her taking a single step closer. He turned his head to the side taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes with a look of enchantment falling over his face. "Beautiful."

 

Unfamiliar fear filled Emma. She felt hunted and trapped; the man before her clearly not wishing her physical harm, but dangerous to her all the same. "Hook, please!"

 

"Killian, lass," he said as he slowly opened his eyes to peer down at her. Emma's face flushed a deep pink at the salacious promises they held.

 

"My son! Regina and Cora have banded together and he is in danger!"

 

"It's been," Hook paused momentarily as he fingered the lock of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, "handled."

 

Emma twisted her head pulling the strand of gold from his fingers. "What do you mean handled?"

 

"Do you really think I'd allow some ill to befall you or your child? That I wouldn't protect you?"

 

"What did you do? They have magic! Powerful magic!"

 

"What I needed to do. Your adversaries are now my own."

 

"What has gotten into you?"

 

A large hand and a hook wrapped around her waist, Hook closed the gap between them pressing the length of his body against hers effectively trapping her between him and the bed. Hook pressed his nose to the side of her temple as she trembled from their close proximity. 

"You have, sweetling. I wish to court you."

 

Emma tried to maneuver away, but was held firmly still by Hook's weight pressing against her. The bolted down bed was as unmovable as the man that held her captive. "Court? This isn't some fairy tale romance novel."

 

"Isn't it? A lost princess and a dastardly pirate? Sounds like a song from legends, lass."

 

A grimace flashed over Emma's face. The Princess Bride came to mind at Hook's mention of pirates and princesses. Unlike the story she was familiar with, their current predicament of captor and captive didn't align too well with the fabled love story.

 

"I see you haven't recovered completely from your ordeal. Would you prefer to rest a while longer in bed or do you wish for some fresh air?"

 

Emma's thoughts raced weighing her options. Resting involved a bed and she didn't trust either one of them to make smart decisions. "Fresh air sounds delightful."

 

Without a word, Hook pulled slightly back only to hook his arms around Emma settling her against his chest like a new bride. She gave an undignified squeal at the sudden movement; her world spinning as she clutched the linen and leather covering Hook's torso. A husky chuckle rumbled in his chest as Hook carried the blonde up to the deck.

 

The brightness of day on the water was blinding to Emma, but the soft warm breeze fluttering around them filled her with life. She squinted her eyes trying to determine the location of the dock, but found only open water surrounding them. "Where the hell are we?"

 

Hook grinned as he refused her struggle out of his arms. "In a secluded cove I found when I first arrived. Don't worry, princess. No one will interrupt us as we hash out some finer details of my pursuit."

 

Emma twisted her body and pushed her hands against him finally dropping her legs from his arms as she uneasily stood on the rocking deck; she was marginally grateful his arms refused to budge from her shoulders as small waves pitched the deck to lean. "I think you got the wrong idea. I'm not interested in any type of relationship with anyone. I'm focusing on my son right now."

 

"The boy needs a father and you need a lover," he whispered into her hair. Emma shiver and lick her lips. "I've been watching you since I came to Storybrooke. You've shown no interest in any man except me."

 

Rolling her eyes, Emma pulled her head away from his to stare incredulously into his blue eyes. "Is that what you take it for? Romantic interest? You are a criminal. I'm the sheriff. It's my job to know you."

 

Hook smirked at her verbal resistance as her body betrayed her by leaning into his for strength. "You weren't the sheriff in the Enchanted Forest, lass, and the pull between us was just as strong."

 

Throbbing at her temples reminded Emma of several important facts regarding her trip into Enchanted Hell with the first and foremost being that this seductive Hook was still the blackguard she met who left her to die. At least Emma had arranged for Hook to be released alive and well. Weakly, Emma pulled away as much as she could from his body, but was pressed back into the leather and linen by muscular arms. "Killian, you are the primary suspect in Gold's murder and I still have no idea what went down with Cora and Regina."

 

A fierce look overcame Hook's face as his eyes lost the gentle warmth from movement ago. "The queens will not be bothering you again and as for Rumpelstiltskin, he had many enemies and surely had it coming."

 

"So something did happen to him," Emma blandly stated.

 

"Something happens to a lot of people, Emma, and I'm tired of going round and round on this subject. The shorter tale is that I can protect you and your boy, you want me as much as I want you, and you have no suitors vying for your hand at the present moment. Why not allow me to court you?" Hook pleaded looking distressed in the face of his failed seduction. Emma was like a dog with a bone: unwilling to let go of even the tiniest bit. The longer the conversation continued, the chances of a gentle persuasion of obtaining Emma in his bed shrunk.

 

Cheeks flushed with anger, Emma ripped her body away from his only to be dragged back into Hook's arms by the swift pirate. "I'm not looking for romance, Hook!"

 

"You may not be looking, but you bloody need it!" Hook growled and crashed his mouth against hers in a punishing kiss.

 

His eyes drifted close as she bucked against him; limbs tangled together in a frenzy as Emma boiled in rage and unwanted lust. With lips and teeth moving against one another, Hook backed Emma into the railing pulling her up on a precarious perch and placed himself between her thighs. Emma gasped for air allowing Hook to sweep his tongue between her lips owning every inch of her mouth as he tasted her for the first time. A moan escaped unbidden from Emma's throat driving the captain into a frenzy as he took as much as he could from the savior. Hook tore his mouth from hers and pressed his swollen lips against her pulse point kissing and nibbling Emma's tender throat as his hand and namesake roamed anywhere within reach.

Baring her neck, Emma wrapped her arms around Hook's broad shoulders pulling him closer as she buried her fingers in his dark locks; his erection felt like hot steel even though the leather and denim pants between them. With a thrust of his hips and a nip to her neck, Hook managed to control his raging emotions and desires pulling back from the heavily panting woman who could only stare unfocused up at him. "We could be so good together. Say yes so I can do this properly."

 

"And if I say no?" Emma whispered.

 

Eyes lit up at her challenge, Hook pushed his luck. "End result is still the same."

 

"You seem so sure of this."

 

Hook leaned in and nipped her lower lip. "Trust me, sweetling. You may enjoy a rough tumble every once in awhile, but I'm betting you'd enjoy some tenderness too."

 

Pressing their lips together and slowly tasting every inch as his fingers unbuttoned her pants, Hook slipped his hand into the tight denim and pressed against wet silk. Emma sucked in a gulp of air at the intrusion of hot fingers against her slit. She bucked her hips against the fingers that gently stroked her bringing her pleasure, but not completion. "Yes, Killian, please!"

 

"That's all I needed to hear, princess." The magic in his veins roared to life as he teleported them back into the cabin. Emma shivered at the dark magic as it ghosted against her, but quickly lost the battle to question it as Hook deftly stroked her into a frenzy as she mumbled praise and thanks into his neck. Hook smiled into her lilac scented hair as she bucked wildly underneath him. He would have waited to consummate their relationship, but what she wanted and what she needed were two different things. She needed release and by the stars, he was going to give it to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plot...what plot?

Legs twisted around burgundy sheets and arms coiled around torsos; Emma lay stretched out in a bliss of pleasantly aching muscles and indolent thoughts. Warm breath tickled her neck where Hook nestled his face against clammy pale skin. His hand traced senseless patterns across her breasts trailing down the side of her body to pause lightly over her lower abdomen tapping his fingers to the tune he was humming between half sung lyrics of a lover waiting for her sailor. Heat flared to life pooling in the pit of her stomach traveling lower where Hook's hand creeped lower to stroke the trimmed dark golden curls still damp from their previous activities. One finger split her lips to stroke the hidden nub; her leg muscles twitched from the pressure that started to build from Hook's well practiced caressing.

 

"Again?" Emma breathlessly asked. "Haven't you had your fill yet?"

 

Hook nipped her neck lightly kissing the bruised skin with a soothing kiss. "That, if it a possibility, will take more than an afternoon in my bed. You make the most delightful sounds."

He gave her clit a pinch then slipped a finger into her hot sheath. "So tight."

 

"Killian!" Emma thrust her hips in time with the finger pressing deeper inside of her. "I have to go get Henry soon and you don't know the meaning of a quickie."

 

Pulling his hand away from where he wanted to be most, Hook raised himself to rest on his stubbed arm. "I can assume that quickie does not involve me pleasuring you for hours on end. Ah lass, you are a vision. Swollen red lips, tangled gold hair; you are a treasure I'll fiercely guard."

 

"As long as you don't bury me, I think we can get along."

 

Hook waggled his eyebrows. "I'd rather bury something deep…"

 

Emma smacked his chest. Hook snatched her hand and held it against him stroking the soft pale skin. "Hey! Seriously, I've got to go get Henry and we need to talk later on about your smoky swirly disappearing acts."

 

"Ah yes. That." Hook bit his lip releasing her hand and rubbed behind his ear. "All in due time. Let's say over dinner tonight?"

 

Emma's eyes flickered between his. "I don't know what is going on between us, but I need some time."

 

Hook clenched his jaw; a brief glimpse of darkness tainted the blue of his irises before fading away. "What we have shared today has changed things. I won't let you run from this."

 

A tingle of fear shivered down her spine at his tone. Emma knew he would follow wherever she tread and with the magic he had shown earlier, she couldn't go far in this town. Giving a slightly forced smile, Emma stroked the side of his face; fingers caressing the stubble on his checks. "I'm not running. I've just never been in this position before and need time to adjust."

 

"What position?"

 

"A son, parents, a…" Emma paused. "Whatever you are to me. I don't know how to make it all work altogether yet."

 

"Your son I can handle just fine. What child doesn't love a pirate ship? As for your parents, I've been known to be charming."

 

"I highly doubt that you can win over Prince Charming. My mother is always about second chances, but I doubt a pirate is what she had in mind for me."

 

"And what do you have in mind?" Hook asked as he leaned his face closer to hers nuzzling his nose against her cheek and pressing gentle kisses under her eye.

 

"I think it's time to go pick up my son."

 

With a huff, Hook pulled his body up right stretching his exhausted muscles and extended his hand to Emma. Soft fingers slid into his callused ones and Hook pulled her upright. Her naked breasts swayed with the movement; his eyes never left the peaked tips flushed from his attentions during their passionate embraces. Hook's cock stood semi-erect and jutting out further by the second as he watched Emma gather clothing strewn about the room. Fishing out her pants from underneath the desk, Emma bent at the waist granting Hook an excellent view of her rear and the still glistening pink flesh he had been enamored with throughout the morning and most of the afternoon.

 

"SHIT!" Emma exclaimed spinning on her heel as she yanked her pants up her thighs. "David is probably searching everywhere for me!"

 

A surge of jealousy shot through Hook. He cocked his head to the side with his eyes narrowed. "David?"

 

The questioning inflection of his voice did not negate the unspoken demand for an explanation. "David as in Prince Charming, my father."

 

The relief that eased his tense stance was noticeable. With a smirk, Hook stepped closer taking Emma into his arms. She buried her face into his chest: his skin peppered with a mat of black hair smelt of the sea, leather, and male musk. "You call your father David?"

 

"I've only know him as my father for a few months and we are about the same age. It's a little strange to start calling him daddy." Planting a kiss against his throat, Emma turned from Hook and pulled out her cell checking her message log. Several text and calls from David and Mary Margaret starting shortly after her arrive to the station that morning filled her inbox. She checked the call volume; it was uncharacteristically on silent. "Did you put my phone on silent?"

 

Hook smirked. "Do I look like a modern man?"

 

A twinge in her gut recognized the half-truth that flowed like water from his mouth. Emma yanked a boot on zipping the closure quickly and repeating the action on the other leg. "Maybe not. See you soon?"

 

"Sooner than later I hope, love," Hook murmured and kissed her temple after she pulled her sweater over her head.

 

With a tight smile, Emma pressed a kiss into his check. "Soon."

 

 

Sooner than later happened a lot sooner than Emma expected. The pirate had given her space until the next morning where she found him sitting in her usual booth. Henry was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity to get his mind off his other mother who was currently missing which was just another problem for Emma to solve. Three missing persons and no bodies or clues, but all tied in some way to the dark haired man chatting animatedly with her son about pirates and their ships. It was almost if Hook was trying to entice the kid into joining his crew. Aside from the bloodshed and stealing, Emma knew Henry would take to the adventurous life of a pirate like a duck to water.

 

Watching Hook interact with Henry grated on her making Emma feel the need to offer some sort of father figure in lieu of his coward of a father Neal. Hook was right. Henry needed a dad, but someone who hid in the shadows and dealt with demons and evil queens alike wasn't someone who she'd allow to influence the kid. Instinctively, Emma knew Hook would never harm her or Henry, but she didn't have faith he would reign in his dark moods and nature around others. Although she could appreciate him as a protector, she couldn't put it past him to be proactive in that protection and eradicate future threats. Murderer isn't a quality she wanted in a good stepfather. Hook was like a fox guarding the hen house.

 

Emma snapped back to the conversation that was being held between the pirate and her son. 

 

"Sailing? Today is a school day. No hookie."

 

Hook raised a dark bushy eyebrow. "Hookie?"

 

Emma sighed at his lack of modern lingo. There were so many things that could relate to his hook it wasn't funny: the top one being a hook-up which she'd never hear the end if she had to explain. "Hookie is slang for skipping out on something you ought to be doing instead of having fun."

 

"Ah. Maybe you should hookie as well," Hook grinned and leaned close.

 

With a snort, Emma rolled her eyes and took a bite of her soggy pancakes.

 

"Come on, mom! It'll be fun. We can sail around the harbor and maybe find some clues on where my mom went."

 

At the mention of the Evil Queen, only a small shift and frown from Hook gave him away. Emma's body tensed and a feeling in her gut told her that the queen was never going to find a happy ending. Emma needed to separate her son from Hook as quickly as possible. "Sounds good. For me. You still have school, but I can enlist Hook's help in the search."

 

"Please? One day won't make a difference."

 

"That's what they all say and it's going to be the day they teach you everything. It's already time to go."

 

Henry groaned and gave Hook a pleading look. Emma had to bite her tongue from mentioning that Hook would never be in the position to save him from her. With no assistance from the captain, Henry gathered his backpack and slid from the booth. "I guess I'll see you this afternoon then."

 

"See you soon, kid. Love you!"

 

"Love you too!" Henry turned and walked to the door.

 

"So, love. Couldn't wait to get me alone?" Hook whispered as he pressed his leg flush against hers. Emma pushed away the feeling of want as she was reminded of his hot flesh under and on top of her the day before.

 

"Something like that," Emma said with a broken voice turning to face Hook. Green eyes searched his blue looking for any sign that the handsome devil before her felt a smidgen of guilt for what she now was assuming was a triple homicide. "I've got to run by the station for a few minutes. Will you walk with me?"

 

The genuine smile that split Hook's face almost broke her resolve. "Of course, my lady. I'd be happy to escort you to any place or realm you wish. Before we go, can you please eat more of your meal? I know my handsome countenance is striking, but I would hate for you to lose your luscious curves and glowing health over me."

 

Offering him a tentative smile, Emma batten down her emotional hatches. She couldn't let pretty words and sincere concern turn her head. Mushy pancakes slid down her throat barely chewed as Emma hatched a plan for backing Hook into a corner. It was confession time. She was damn sure he didn't leave evidence for her to find.

 

 

Not a word was spoken between them as they left Granny's to walk to the sheriff's station. The cool morning air was a blessing against Emma's flushed cheeks. By the time she had finished her pancakes, Hook had claimed her knee with his hand gently tracing nonsense patterns between her legs. Ever the gentleman, his traveling fingers went no higher and left her twitching with a maddening desire to spread her legs apart granting access to the more fun parts she'd rather he'd fondle.

 

His pink ears and twitching chest muscles betrayed his careless smile and easy disposition. When he offered his arm outside of the diner, Emma felt all the tense desire that was coiled inside of him ready to spring out at any given provocation from her. A small dark part of Emma wanted Hook to push her against a brick wall in an alleyway barely hidden from view and make her ride his hand as people went about their business nearby.

 

Hook moved forward a bit grabbing the door and holding it open for Emma to walk through the threshold. The predatory gleam in his blue eyes darkened as he held her gaze before Emma turned away to step inside with him right behind her. Warmth spread across her face as the heat from the air ducts blew over her. Hook was mesmerized by the small smile that graced Emma's face and blonde hair that floated across her smooth skin like silk. "Beautiful."

 

"Sorry?"

 

Hook shook his head banishing a look of stupor away. "Nothing, dear. So what bring us here?"

 

Emma ignored his question and walked into her office; Hook followed close behind watching every movement of hers with avid attention. He shut the door without a sound as Emma sat at her desk and rummaged through paperwork that was scattered about in a drawer. "Here we go!"

 

"What is this?" Hook leaned against the desk to hover over her.

 

"It's a search warrant. For your ship."

 

"My ship?"

 

It was time for reckoning. The sheriff in Emma was tired of playing games. "Hook, we both know you did something. This search warrant is useless though. I absolutely hate being lied to and you know this. I won't find any evidence, will I?"

 

"No, you won't," he flatly stated without elaboration pinning her down with his stare.

 

Emma waited mentally pleading for some sort of excuse that would fit her definition of righteous. When none was forthcoming, there was only one way to needle information out of Hook: bluntly blaming him. "So you murdered them."

 

Hook leaped from his position startling Emma enough to place a hand on her pistol. Hook looked distraught over her movement and intention. "It was self-defense. The queens were on their way to kill you."

 

She could feel the truth in his words. Even his actions and some of the vague memories from that morning reflected truth. Her gut screamed to trust this man pacing in front of her just like it had on top of the beanstalk when he offered his hand. "Why? How? How did you do this?"

 

"After I got my revenge, there was an unexpected," he paused his words and pacing looking about for the right word. "Bonus. I became the Dark One."

 

"I fucking knew it!" Emma bit out thrusting her body back against the chair throwing her hands up in disgust.

 

Hook shook his head. "Yes, well, good thing because Cora and her daughter were out for your blood. I handled the situation."

 

"Are they dead?" Emma brusquely asked.

 

"Yes."

 

A sob choked in her throat. Emma ran a hand over her face and pitched forward over the desk. "How am I going to tell Henry that the mother who raised him is dead?"

 

Hook immediately appeared at her side kneeling as he took hold over Emma's sagging shoulders. "The truth. She wanted you dead and if I hadn't stepped between you and those damnable women, he would have had say goodbye to you instead."

 

Emma peeked up at him with wide eyes and a grimace marring her face. "The Dark One, huh?"

Reading the thoughts flashing across her face, Hook realized that the direction the conversation was heading was not in his favor. He nuzzled his face against hers pressing kisses against anywhere he could reach. "Emma, this doesn't change anything between us."

 

"Like hell it doesn't!" Emma pulled back from him; his hand slipping down her back, but refusing to lose the connection as if she'd disappear if he wasn't touching her.

 

"Why would it change anything?" Hook pleaded. "I can protect you and your kin better like this."

 

"Listen, I appreciate you protecting me from Regina and Cora, but did you really need to kill them? Not to mention you killed Gold!"

 

"They wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't. Sometimes you cannot save lives without taking one or in this case, two. As for the crocodile, he murdered Milah and I have no doubt many others. He is the reason why you were torn from your parents' arms," Hook's voice grew louder as he laid blame of her troubles on the previous Dark One diverting her attention from Rumpelstiltskin's cause of death and focused on the evil he had wrought. "He is the reason why Regina casted that damn curse. The only thing I have to be thankful of him was it lead me to you. My revenge was an end. Now I can start living again."

 

Emma's mouth dropped open. It wasn't at all what she expected from the captain. His words struck a chord in her that would surely disappoint her parents: there were people out there that needed to be put down like the rabid dogs they were. Regina, Cora, and Gold were all murderers in their own rights. The devastation that Cora had wrecked in the Enchanted Forest ghost town had been a small percentage of the total carnage the three dark magic users had brought about to the world.

 

"I really don't know what to say. I agree with you on some things, but I don't think one person should be judge, jury, and executioner."

 

"Emma dear. I cannot change what I've done nor the events that have led me to this, but I can tell you that I will fight for this growing connection between us. We have both felt the draw towards one another. Already I have defended you and in doing so, your town against two women of unspeakable cruelty and evil."

 

"What about you? The Dark One? What does that entitle?"

 

Hook smiled. Innocent as she was regarding magic and darkness, Hook could almost taste his victory. "It means I have magic. Dark magic that can be used in a better way than the crocodile had."

 

"A better way?" Emma tilted her head eyeing his face for deception.

 

"I am not like Rumpelstiltskin. I don't crave the death and destruction he brought about. I'm a simple pirate. I want me rum, me ship, and me woman," Hook admitted a partial truth. He may be simple in his desires, but he had left out one: power. Without power over others, Hook became an indentured cabin boy once again. "I've spent so much of my life plotting revenge. I think I deserve to live a little."

 

Emma smiled despite her conflicting emotions. She could feel the truth pour out of his words, but something held her back from wholeheartedly believing in him. Only time would decide his fidelity. Until Hook proved himself, she'd have to place walls between them to minimize the emotional aspect of forming bonds between them, but still hold him close to keep an eye the new Dark One.

 

'At least he will be more manageable than Gold,' Emma thought as she shoved the warrant back into her drawer. Catching a scolding look from Hook, Emma shrugged and turned towards him. "What? So I'm a little unorganized sometimes."

 

Hook grunted in response and spun Emma's chair towards him to settle between her parted thighs. His thumb traced circles on her knee bringing back the feeling of need from the diner. "Killian."

 

Blue eyes snapped to hers at his name. "Yes?"

 

"We can't do that here," Emma stated mentally chastising herself for leaving it open to interpretation that there were other places they could go to satisfy themselves.

 

Hook leaned forward pressing his face close to hers with a devilish smile gracing his lips. "Your unspoken wish is my command."

 

'How do I keep on getting sucked back into him?' Emma wondered as the world turned with Hook's magic and settled them on the desk in his cabin. A brutal kiss silenced her thoughts and words became gasps and sighs as Hook took what he wanted and she freely gave. Tomorrow she'd be stronger.

 

 

A few hours later left them both breathless and clammy lying strewn about over the bed; Emma's soft breath ghosted over Hook's throat as she lay tucked into his side in a peaceful sleep. Staring at the interlocking wood beams on the ceiling, Hook lazily stroked her flaxen hair that was matted against his chest while planning out the next steps he needed to take to insure her loyalty to him. In his observations of Swan, only family held the depth of devotion from her that he coveted. Marriage required a more delicate hand that he was capable of currently using since his need for her was too strong for anything except an unrelenting pursuit. Only a child between them would instantly and more importantly permanently fortify a bond linking the Dark One and Savior together.

 

The smaller part of him, the one he labeled as Killian, was appalled at the cold calculation of the darker side of his soul as he strategically mapped plans for acquiring Swan's loyalty. To bring a child into this world for the sole purpose of tethering the woman to him held no appeal, but to the Dark One he held no qualms of purposefully misleading Swan. Manipulation came as a second nature to Captain Hook; the darkness that now sludged through his veins and into his heart only reinforced the selfishness he had spent centuries embroiled in as a pirate.

 

The lieutenant his brother Liam had been proud of was slowly dying as darkness suffocated the light of his soul. Black deeds he had committed over the years had hampered the soul; each deed became easier as time went on leaving nothing, but a small corner of himself that he could label a good man. Even the code he lived by was rapidly deteriorating under the weight of the Dark One whose thoughts were occupied figuring out a spell or potion to promote fertility in the vixen resting in his arms.

 

It was only a matter of time before the haze of lust and desire was wiped cleaned from Emma's mind as she regained her self-awareness. Several times at the sheriff's station Hook had felt her withdraw from him as she fortified walls in preparation to reject his advances. Only gentle touches and soft words allowed him to reach through her defenses allowing the walls to come back down and for Hook to sneak through her guard.

 

The way she had pressed her limbs into his own filled him with passion he had not felt hundreds of years. Milah's face had faded from the forefront of his mind as green eyes and red lips that gasped his name arose to the center stage of his consciousness. Unbeknownst to her, the power within the savior had shown itself to the pirate. It licked across her skin as she keened her pleasure leaving the newly made Dark One frantic for release. The spark of white magic kept his darkness at bay leaving Emma untainted from the grime on his soul. Killian was tortured over his actions, Hook was enflamed by the blonde wrapped around him, and the Dark One was utterly obsessed by the way the light shimmered against the dark.


	5. Chapter Five

If life had taught Emma anything, it was to be prepared. Sitting across from her father as they discussed what she referred to as the Evil Three, Emma came to the startling conclusion that for once in her life she had forgone condoms without even a single thought to protecting herself from whatever Enchanted Forest diseases Hook was toting around in his pants. Her only saving grace was birth control in the form of a depo shot. After her unexpected pregnancy with Henry while on the pill, Emma always doubled up on contraceptives. Not that she wouldn’t mind having another child; it just couldn’t be with some guy she’d hooked up with instead of a stable, loving, and sane relationship. Everything that wasn’t what she was doing with Hook.

 

“You okay there, Emma?” David asked startling the Savior out of her meandering thoughts.

 

“Yeah, sure. I’m fine. Just thinking how to explain to Henry the mother who had raised him tried to kill me and would have succeeded if it had not been for our newest Dark One who had previously murdered the town’s mafia boss slash evil doer and even our Dark Hook just barely manage to defeat them. Did you see how Cora almost took off his head?”

 

“Yeah, the surveillance video was quite, um, illuminating. I almost didn’t believe Regina would have sided with her mother especially since Henry had brought about a change for the better in her, but it seems I have been mistaken.”

 

Emma leveled David down with a stare. “We can’t even have Hook charged for anything involving them. It was clearly self-defense.”

 

David shrugged looking clearly not pleased with the choices the pirate made, but thankful for the end result. “Well, he was defending my daughter.”

 

“After he knocked me out,” Emma spat as she leaned back and folder her arms across her chest. Discontent filled her gut; the helplessness she first felt aboard his ship swept back and settled inside.

 

David looked perplexed as he struggled to find the words to voice his concerns. He followed her suit and leaned back mirroring his daughter. “Yeah, about that. What is going on between you two? You said he defended you against Cora and Regina, but why?”

 

“What he told me his reasons were or what I think?” Emma scoffed at the incredulousness of each reason and her thoughts.

 

“Both,” David flatly spoke as he stared at her with a faux calm expression; only his hands violently opening packages of sugar gave any indication to his inner turmoil.

 

“He wants to court me.” Emma sighed and took a long sip of her coffee bracing herself for the expected outrage from David. “I think since his revenge is finally completed after God knows how many years, he found himself looking for the next thing which is apparently me.”

 

David’s mouth popped open and closed before he mustered his voice. “C-court you? Is he insane? He is a pirate and now the Dark One!”

 

“Who saved my life and also took down the biggest bad we had in town,” she reminded David of the actual good Hook had done for them. It was more of a reminder to herself than him.

 

“Killing Gold was murder,” David threw back with a cock of his head.

 

Taking a deep breath, Emma knew the disappointment of her real world views in his fairytale eyes would bring another notch of pain in her heart. It was best to break it out to him now. The world wasn’t black and white, but grey. “Murdering a murderer. Gold was the devil we knew. Now we have a new Dark One who is equally powerful if the books on the Dark One are correct and he has taken a shining to me. Might be best that we keep him close so we know what he is up to or do you think alienating him from us is the best course of action?”

 

“No, you are right. We aren’t in position to wage a war against the Dark One and keeping on civil terms is essential. I know you see this situation as grey, but your mother…” David trailed off remembering his wife’s soft heart. Emma held the same softness about her, but was wrapped in steel that was forged by lonely years away from her parents. It was something he deeply regretted.

 

“My mother had a chance to put Regina down before she murdered thousands of people, cast a curse that separated our family, ended up costing me a childhood, and eventually landed my ass in jail while pregnant. I love both of you, but there were other choices.”

 

“Your mother tried to make the best decision with the information she had at the time. We didn’t know the future. If we had, i would have gone against your mother’s wishes and killed Regina myself.”

 

Shocked filled Emma at this small revelation. She hadn’t expected they actually had a chance to execute Regina. “Wait. You had a chance to kill her?”

 

“Yeah, we captured her and nullified her magic. Your mother spared her life.” David looked pleased; it made Emma sick.

 

“And ruined mine in the process,” Emma took a breath and shifted in her seat trying to reign in her emotions. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to throw everything she had gone through into her father’s face, there had been enough pain in her life. 

 

“Wait a minute, Emma.” David shook his finger at her. Emma’s lip started to curl up in response before she smoothed her face back to a neutral non aggressive look. “Your mother tried to show Regina mercy and a better way to live. We couldn’t have known what would happen.”

 

Unable to stand his lack of comprehension to the ruin inflicted upon her as a newborn, Emma abruptly stood pushing back her chair. With catlike reflexes, she grabbed the smooth wood righting the chair before she took a step back from the table. “An educated guess that a mass murdering witch would continue to plot against you isn’t farfetched. She was like a rabid dog.”

 

David held himself still looking resigned in the face of her anger. “Still, we cannot make other people’s choices.”

 

“There is that grey area,” Emma huffed as she strode to the kitchen for another cup of coffee talking to the entire way. “While you can’t make other people’s choices, you can take a stand against those who seek to destroy lives and love not only in your family, but in your kingdom. As much as I want to see people redeemed, you cannot allow them to murder people in the process of finding their way. She raped and killed Graham not even a year ago!”

 

“Raped?” David snapped his head towards her. The disbelief in his eyes spoke volumes.

 

“She had his heart. Graham told me before he died that sometimes he didn’t want to be with her and then he was suddenly compelled to see her.” Emma walked back to the table with more poise than she felt and slipping into a chair. “That was the night I caught him sneaking out of her house and he admitted to their strange relationship. I bet you everything I own that she was whispering into his heart to come hither.”

 

“I didn’t know.” Looking down into his mug, David’s voice was soft as he spoke. “I thought he died of a heart attack.”

 

“She crushed his heart. That was barely six months ago.”

 

“I’m sorry, Emma.” David’s eyes misted over; he had gotten the wrong impressions that her feelings were deeper than they were.

 

“Please don’t apologize. It can’t be helped now.”

 

“I know, but you were friends with Graham.” David took a long sip of his now cold coffee. “Everyone was. He was a good man.”

 

“That he was. Better than most.,” Emma admitted wistfully. If only good men were still alive and kicking, not related to her, and not the Dark One maybe her life would have some happy ending to it. 

 

“Better than Hook?” David snickered.

 

“Jesus, David. Lay off the Hook thing,” Emma brushed his question away while she fingered the forgotten missing person paperwork that littered the table.

 

“So it’s a thing now?” he questioned with eyebrows raised.

 

Emma rolled her eyes. She spent almost thirty years without having to explain herself to anyone; it was just another thing she was having to adjust in her life. “I’m going to keep tabs on him. I don’t trust Hook. I can’t afford to, but I can’t just allow him to run wild in this town so he’ll have to stay close to me for now.”

 

“Just be careful,” David warned. “You saw on the surveillance video what he did to Cora and Regina.”

 

“Barely beat them?” Emma smirked without humor in her eyes. What the three of them did was terrifying to her.

 

Jaw clenched, David wasn’t moved by her nonchalant behavior. “He has magic. Powerful magic. Regina and Cora had the advantage of teaming up and using magic more proficiently than he could at the time. He won, but barely.”

 

“Know any good magic users in town?” Emma perked up as new tactics grew at the mention of magic.

 

“Besides yourself? Just the fairies and going to them will just alert our new Dark One to our plan,” David admitted.

 

A settling pool of disappointment was starting to be firmly lodged within Emma as the turn of events of the past few weeks started to barrel down on her. “I don’t know how to use magic. I know I have it, but I don’t know how to use it.”

 

David looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, you could learn.”

 

“From who if not the fairies?”

 

“Who else? Hook.” A please smile slid on David’s lips. “As much as I don’t want you near him, knowledge of magic is an innate skill of the Dark One plus you’d be keeping him in your sight.”

 

Stacking the papers for the umpteenth time, Emma avoided his gaze trying to sort through her own feelings of excitement and dread at the prospect. “I’ll think on it.”

 

“Emma, we may need to use magic one day to keep this town safe especially if Hook turns on us,” David reminded her as he laid a hand on hers to still the shuffling papers.

 

“I know, I know.”

 

“Good, so, town meeting?” David removed his hand and leaned back putting forth an air of confidence she hadn’t felt since before the curse broke.

 

“For?” Emma asked already knowing in her heart that dreaded answer.

 

“Letting people know what happened to Cora, Regina, and Gold.”

 

With a heavy heart, Emma faced facts she’d rather not admit. “I need to talk to Henry first. And Belle needs to be told.”

 

“Do you need help with Henry?”

 

Shaking her head, Emma raised a hand stopping any further questions from David. “No, I’ll be fine. Will you tell Belle?”

 

“Sure. I’ll have your mother help.”

“Good. Thank you.”

 

 

Pitiful cries ricocheted in Emma’s skull as each one tore into her heart through the oak door. Emma sat with her knees under her chin with her back pressed against the wall while she waited for some sign that Henry wished to see her. No matter how much she wished to hold him and take away his pain, Emma refused to go against his wishes for a few solitary moments. The blow her child had been delivered from the world was a harsh one that still burned into her own skin; it wasn’t fair and there wasn't anything you could do to change things. As repulsive as Regina was to her, Henry loved the woman still and though he may have been afraid of her and what she had done, Regina was the woman who wiped his tears and comforted him for all his life. Emma was the interloper still struggling to learn the intricacies of parenting. 

 

The sniffling behind the door became muted and light footsteps creaked closer; the doorknob turned slowly and Henry appeared with a bowed head and his fist wiping away tears. “He killed her!”

 

“Sweetheart, I know you are in pain. It’s okay. You love your mom, but no matter how much we love someone, they can still do bad things. Hook saved me.”

 

“I know, but I wish he had found a different way.”

 

“Me too, Henry, but I don’t think he had much of a choice. Both Cora and Regina weren’t backing down. In life, there will be times you only have a choice between two bad decisions.”

 

“What is going to happen to him?”

 

“Well, the video shows his motives as self-defense. We can’t blame that. They made the decision to try and break the laws, not him.”

 

“What about Mr. Gold?”

 

“Well, that is the issue. Mr. Gold wasn’t a nice man. He had hurt and wronged a lot of people as the Dark One. Right now Hook is the Dark One so he has powerful magic. We cannot fight against that effectively until we know what we are really up against and we have some of our own magic to fight him with.”

 

“So another operation?”

 

“Kinda. Got a name for it?”

 

A small smile graced Henry’s face. “Operation Lighthouse.”

 

“Why lighthouse?”

 

“Because he is a captain and we are the good guys.”

 

“Sounds like a plan, kid. Come on. Mary Margaret is going to watch you while David and I go to the town meeting. I’m pretty sure she has planned ice cream for dinner.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Emma brushed a kiss to Henry’s forehead. “I’ll be home soon.”

 

 

Hook watched from a distance light of the setting sun reflecting on blonde hair fluttering in the night breeze as it’s owner commanded the masses of plebeians on the steps of grand stone building. The graceful turn of her neck enraptured him as she addressed questions and occasionally shouts from the group of townsfolk. Watching and waiting for Emma to emerge from the building was a testament to his control; seeing her without being by her side was torture. From her father’s protective stance surveying over the procession, Hook knew he would be unable to join her until much later when she retired for the night. Pulling magic around his form, Hook reappeared in the hull of his ship. 

 

Barrels of rum and dry goods lined the sides of the hull in a neat order that balanced out the weight evenly from stem to stern. Without any crew or threat of theft from passersby, chests of treasure were brazenly displayed cracked open just waiting for someone to rifle through them. Even in the dark that blanketed the ship, Hook’s vision was unencumbered by the lack of light and he shifted closer to a well loved chest filled with delicate jewelry that he had sorted out earlier for his newest obsession. Diamonds, emeralds, and rubies made up much of the stones that were weaved around by gold and silver. A small circlet full of thumbnail sized rubies and diamonds that he desperately desired to see on top of Emma’s golden head as he rutted her into the deck laid on top of the pile. His fingers ghosted over the gold that twisted around the diamonds and rubies. It was too soon to present her with a majority of the jewels he wished to lay at her feet. Slow and steady would ease Emma’s fragile heart into giving it over to him.

 

Hook closed the chest and meandered to his personal stash of gold coins pulling free a purse heavy with gold from the pile. He bounced the purse in his hand twice measuring the weight deeming the gold worth enough for the large purchase Smee was going to make on his behalf. Only a handful of properties worth any salt were available in the district of Storybrooke that offered an oceanview and only one of those had a dock in a secluded cove. Dredging the cove to suit the depth of the Jolly Roger would take time. Arrangements had already been made through Smee for the dock to be expanded to moor the Jolly and the house to be repaired and repainted. While the inside of the two story house was relatively up to his standards, only a few rooms would be outfitted by Hook himself; the rest would await Emma’s approval and personal touch. 

 

The amount of craftsmen that were lining up to work on the renovations was sure to get around to the Savior within the time it’d take to make the house liveable. His former crew would remain silent on his personal dealings, however there were numerous laborers that held no allegiance except the gold passing from his hands to theirs. Those loose tongues were sure to alert the hero team to the location and worth of the estate he was purchasing within days of the event. 

 

Wood above Hook’s head creaked pulling his attention away from the gold. Without a thought, Hook appeared in a red flourish of smoke half expecting Smee to jump out of his skin at his appearance. It was Hook’s turn to be startled by the vision gracing his ship. Emma Swan, clad in a clinging red dress with ridiculously high heels, stood motionless on the polished wood of the Jolly Roger as a gentle breeze lifted her hair framing the soft pale skin of her face. The rising moon soften the golden color of her hair giving it an otherworldly glow that he wasn’t sure was truly a trick of the light or part of her inner magic working its way out to tempt him. 

 

The darkness inside of him rose unbidden to the forefront of his conscious. The man that he was, Killian and Hook, was pushed back into the wings watching the world around him through muted sensations and secondhand feelings as the true Dark One regarded the goddess within striking distance. His throat was dry as he grounded out her name. “Emma.”

 

The savior turned her head abruptly; hair swinging out and falling softly in waves over her bare shoulder. Truly a vision to behold. “Killian.”

 

“Not that I mind, my dear, but I do wonder at your presence here tonight especially dressed as ravishing as you are. Is that type of dress usual for this realm?” Hook leered as he stepped closer. The flesh of Emma’s bare shoulders puckered in goosebumps at his approach. “Allow me, milady.”

 

With a flick of his hand, a black cashmere shawl draped around her shoulders as he reached forward to brush his knuckles against the luminous swell of her breasts.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I’m at your service.” Hook’s words implied much more than his half attempt at being a gentleman. His hand and hook wandered down the sides of her breasts cupping them to feel the weight of their fullness before sliding down her sides to grasp the curve of her hips. “Now, what can I do for you, Swan?”

 

“Not beating around the bush tonight, are you?” Emma rhetorically asked. A bright glint of mischief appeared in the deep blue of his eyes and she hurried to continue before Hook could voice whatever salacious thoughts came to his mind. “I need you. To teach me how to use my magic.”

 

Thrown off kilter, the Dark One retreated back allowing Hook to regain control. “Teach you?”

 

“I’ve been having random bursts of magic since I came back from the Enchanted Forest. I don’t know how to control it,” Emma stated trying to insert more truth than there was into her words. 

 

“Hmm...I would say that you don’t need to make an excuse just to get to spend time with me, but I know how wild and dangerous magic can be.” Hook eyed her skeptically trying to decipher her true intentions. “As much as it would behoove us to start immediately, securing a location that is secluded enough for our private rendezvous will take a few days.”

 

Emma looked up at Hook expectantly, but he declined to elaborate on the subject. Instead he focused his attention on her neck brushing aside her hair with his hook. The cold steel brushed against warmed flesh and was replaced by hot lips pressing kisses up the column of her throat. Teeth grazed and bruised as Hook nibbled the tender flesh below her ear. 

 

“Ah! Hook. I didn’t come here for that.”

 

“Hmmm…” He hummed into her skin pressing her closely against the bulge in his pants. “I think you did.”

 

Emma huffed and started to pull away. “It’s ladies night.”

 

“Every night is, lass.” He nuzzled the tip of nose into the side of Emma’s face filling his lungs with her scent.

 

“No, at the bar. I’m going out with the girls. I only stopped by real quick before I made my way over.” She forced herself to relax in his arms while waiting for the words to sink in. 

 

“I will accompany you then. Who knows what kind of unsavoury characters you could meet.”

 

“I can handle myself plus you accompanying me defeats the purpose of ladies night.”

 

“And what purpose would that be?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

 

“Perhaps I would.”

 

“Maybe later. Right now I’m late.” Emma leaned in giving Hook a chaste kiss to his lips. His mouth chased hers as she pulled back from him. “I’ll see you soon.”

‘Sooner than you think, Swan,’ Hook thought as he watched her hips sway in a hypnotizing rhythm while walking down the gangplank. Leaning his forearms on the gunwale, Hook continued his leering until the blonde vanished from sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, read it once or twice over. Sorry! Please let me know what you think about the story so far. Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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